UPS adds capacity to cope with peak season rush

Atlanta
: UPS has opened a new sortation and delivery centre which can process 100,000 pieces per hour. The 1.2m square feet facility is the integrator's second largest ground package processing facility in the US and fourth largest package operation in its worldwide network.

The hub serves primarily the southeastern US and is part of the integrator's plan to add more than 350,000 pieces per hour of additional sortation capacity in the US before the 2018 holiday season. Similar facilities are opening in: Dallas Fort Worth, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Indianapolis.

"UPS is installing high-tech systems that make our network more flexible, more resilient, and more anticipatory," said George Willis, President, US Operations.

He added, "is home to the largest of a new class of sortation centres, or super hubs, which enable us to optimise how we move shipments through a precisely managed network of more than 1,000 small package operating facilities in the United States."

He explained that the new regional hubs incorporate advanced package processing technologies with proprietary network planning software that efficiently integrates UPS air and ground operations across the US and around the globe.

"These super hubs create more options for how packages are transported along the way to their final destinations. If a surge in package volume could overload on one sorting facility, we can redirect volume to other transportation modes and sortation facilities to avoid delays."